


Seventeen Bullets on a Birthday Cake

by RoSH (RoSH95)



Category: Cowboy Bebop
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Genderqueer!Ed, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-11
Updated: 2017-01-21
Packaged: 2018-09-16 18:04:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9283703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoSH95/pseuds/RoSH
Summary: For as long as Ed can remember, all they’ve ever wanted was knowledge. And then they came across the Bebop crew and they wanted that. And now they’re watching as Spike runs through his forms and they want him.(Title subject to change)





	1. Session 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spike and Ed go after a bounty. Things... do not go as planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a terrible human being. Why? Because instead of working on my pokemon fanfic like I said I would, I wrote this trash. I AM THE TRASH LORD. IT IS ME.
> 
> Anyways. This fic is Spike/Ed, so if your not down with that, run now, yeah? Ed is 17 in this fic though so don't worry about underage sex or anything XD
> 
> WARNING WARNING WARNING: There is rape in this chapter!!! Its only a one paragraph description before Spike loses his shit and pumps the asshole full of lead, but I thought I should warn you so nobody yells at me later XD
> 
> I think that's all my notes for now. ENJOY!

For as long as Ed can remember, all they’ve ever _wanted_ was knowledge. And then they came across the Bebop crew and they wanted that. And now they’re watching as Spike runs through his forms and they want _him_.

Ed tries to remember when these feelings became a thing, but they can’t decide. Because somewhere along the road between the time Spike first smiled at them and the time they shyly explained that they don’t always feel like a girl and Spike just shrugged and said “Okay,” he stopped treating them like a kid. Ed thinks that was probably the catalyst.

They’re seventeen and they’ve never even been kissed and they can’t think of a single reason Spike Spiegel would look twice at skinny, androgynous Edward. But they can’t help _wanting_ him.

Spike is tall and lean with defined muscles, a sharp jaw, and long fingers, and he has the most beautiful burgundy eyes. And Ed… Ed’s also tall and lean, but in a way that emphasizes hunger more than fitness. Ed has round cheeks and thin, spindly fingers, and the only thing they like about their appearance is their catlike golden eyes.

~

Ed is swimming through cyberspace when they feel a solid _thump_ to their lower back and suddenly lose concentration. Before the onslaught of information can overwhelm them—and before Spike can kick them again—Ed pulls off their goggles and turns to look at him.

“We got a job,” is all Spike says, before he turns and walks away.

Ed huffs loudly, unhooking their goggles from the Tomato and packing it up before hurrying after him.

“What’s the job?” they ask as they catch up to Spike.

“Doffy Flamingo of the Donquixote syndicate,” Spike replies, checking that his gun is loaded. “Three hundred and forty million woolongs. He’s been stirring up trouble in Sector Fourty-One of Callisto. The gang’s a big one, and they’re not gonna let Doffy go easily. You got your gun?”

Ed pats their hip where they keep their Ghost in a holster and gives an affirmative. Spike taught them to never go anywhere without their gun and they just cleaned and loaded it the night before. They’re ready to go.

Spike nods once and leads them to his Swordfish.

The Swordfish isn’t really built for two people, but Ed’s small, so they usually just cram themself in behind the pilot seat. Spike glances behind him to check that Ed’s situated before flicking a few switches and pressing a few buttons and starting the ship up.

As the ship pulls away from the Bebop, Ed runs a quick search on Doffy Flamingo on their Tomato. He’s the leader of the Donquixote syndicate, and is well known for his cruelty. Apparently, the syndicate has been taking over Callisto for the past four years. By now, almost the entire moon is under Donquixote’s control. But that’s not all. Doffy is also wanted for rape, murder, embellishment, and theft. Edward concludes that Doffy is a psycho. Not to mention, his bounty alone could feed their little rag-tag family for a year.

~

The mission goes perfectly. Right up until they get trapped in a garage with ten of Donquixote’s members. Ed’s not even sure how this happened.

A tall woman steps away from the group, light green hair floating behind her and hips swaying as she moves. She has a kind face and, for a moment, Edward thinks there must have been some kind of mistake. This woman can’t possibly be part of the Donquixote gang.

“My, my, Spike Spiegel,” she says, voice haughty with a heavy Russian accent. “You should know that your name precedes you.”

“Then you have me at a disadvantage, my lady,” Spike says, forever the charmer, but his arm is out in front of Edward, holding them back and slightly behind him.

“Meenya zavoot Monet,” the lady says, in Russian. “I am called Monet.”

And that must be a signal for something because suddenly everyone in the room is shooting at Spike and Ed. They both dive separate ways and Ed scrambles to take cover behind some crates.

Ed looks around once the gunfire ceases to see Spike crouched behind a stack of crates on the other side of the room. When he catches their eye, he gestures to his gun and Ed quickly pulls their Ghost out.

Spike starts shooting up the left side of the room, using his cover behind the crates to keep from getting shot, and Ed aims into the right side of the room, picking off members with an easy precision. As they’re locking in on their third target, something grabs them from behind, knocking the Ghost out of their hand.

Ed struggles as they’re hauled upright into their captor’s arms, and then they feel the cold steel of a gun pressed to the side of their head.

“Hvatit!” Monet shouts at Spike. “Or I shoot the girl!”

Ed hates that they’ve been labeled as a girl, but they can’t really do anything about it now so they simply stop moving and watch Spike as he slowly turns to face them. His eyes are wide and they land on Edward first before moving on to glare at Monet.

“Put the gun down,” Monet says, and Ed can hear a wicked smile in her voice.

Ed shakes their head violently, but Spike does as he’s told.

“ _Good_ ,” Monet purrs. “Strel’ba!”

And suddenly the last three gunmen shoot directly at Spike, their bullets catching him in the chest and throwing him to the ground.

“NO! SPIKE!” Edward screams, watching as his body collapses on the ground.

Monet struggles to keep her grip on Ed, but they wriggle away, spinning around and grabbing their Ghost before coming to face Monet again. They’re hidden behind the crates still, so the others can’t shoot them. It’s just Ed and Monet.

Ed snarls fiercely through their tears and pulls the trigger.

~

The last thing Spike remembers is the sound of guns going off and Edward screaming his name desperately from across the room. Everything hurts, so he’s pretty sure he’s alive, but he took three bullets to the chest so he’s not certain he’ll stay that way. And the only thing Spike can bring himself to regret is leaving Edward to clean up the mess he made. They’re a capable bounty hunter, so he’s not worried about them getting hurt, but seeing him die will probably traumatize the poor kid. Heaven knows Ed doesn’t need more trauma in their life.

Spike opens his mismatched eyes and the first thing he sees is mile long legs connected to a skinny body standing protectively in front of him. It’s Edward, facing off the last three criminals with nothing but Spike’s Jericho to defend themself with. Their hands are shaking, but they’re standing tall and firm, hissing and spitting like a wild cat.

They don’t even flinch when one of their opponents fires the gun. The bullet goes wide and doesn’t even hit them, but to not flinch is still an impressive feat. And then Ed pulls the trigger of the Jericho three times and puts a bullet through each of their enemy’s heads.

Spike’s not sure if it’s just the heat of the moment or _what_ , but he feels his heart swell because _he_ taught Ed that. On Edward’s sixteenth birthday when they came to him and asked him to teach them to shoot, Spike took Ed to a shooting range and taught them how to aim, how to pull the trigger, and how to steady the recoil.

Spike must have made some sort of noise because Ed jumps and whirls around to look at him, their eyes wide and tears streaming down their face.

“Spike!” Ed cries, as they collapse on their knees beside him and drop the Jericho to reach out to him with trembling hands. “Ed thought Spike was going to die!”

And Spike can’t help but jerk at Ed’s words because _when was the last time Edward spoke in third person?_ Spike doesn’t know because sometime between when Ed left to search for their father and when Spike woke up from his cryogenic slumber a year later, Ed grew up.

“I’m okay, Ed,” Spike rasps, reaching up and grasping one of Edward’s hovering hands with his own.

Ed twines their fingers together and sobs, other hand going to Spike’s head and petting his hair. Spike just squeezes their hand gently, a reassurance to both that he’s not going anywhere. And now that he’s actually awake, Spike doesn’t plan on dying anytime soon.

“You should get Jet,” Spike says after a moment. “Gonna need someone to patch me up.”

Ed nods quickly and pulls their hands away to radio Jet. Almost as soon as they’re gone, Spike can feel himself floating away again. He’s lost a lot of blood, and feels woozy because of it, but even that shouldn’t be enough to make him feel like he’s not even conscious. It scares him, because he feels like he’s dying.

Spike wants to call Edward back; tell them not to leave him alone, but before he can get the words out of his mouth, Ed is already back. Ed’s hands go straight to Spike’s face, and he can hear them calling his name, patting his cheeks, but he can’t find the energy to respond more than a slow blink.

The world around him is fading until Ed’s the only thing left, and Spike can’t even lift a finger to reassure them that he’s going to be all right. He’s not even sure he’s going to be all right.

Just before Spike passes out, he feels something warm press against his lips.

~

The next time Spike wakes, it’s not to the gentle hum of the Bebop. It’s to a cold, dank prison cell. Someone has done a poor job patching him up, but he’s not bleeding out anymore so Spike considers it a win.

He shifts slightly from where he’s lying on the ground and hears chains jingling above his head. He shifts again so he can tip his head back and sees his wrists chained together above his head.

Spike curses.

“Spike?”

He turns his head and there’s Ed, curled up into a tight little ball beside him. Their arms are wrapped around their legs and their wrists are chained.

“Ed,” Spike says, “what happened?”

Ed pulls their legs a little closer to their chest.

“You passed out,” they whisper. “I was trying to keep you alive. I wasn’t paying attention and they took me by surprise.”

“Donquixote?”

Ed nods glumly.

“It’s okay, Ed,” Spike says, trying to be reassuring. “We’re both alive and we’re going to get out of this. You called Jet, right?”

“Before we were captured, yes.”

“Then he’ll know something went wrong when we don’t come back and come looking for us,” Spike says confidently. “Help me sit up.”

“You probably shouldn’t be doing that,” Ed mumbles, but obligingly moves to help him anyways.

Once Spike is in a sitting position, slumped against the wall, Ed doesn’t move away. They hover awkwardly beside him. Spike rolls his eyes and reaches out to grab Ed’s arm and haul them in to lean against his chest.

“We’ll be okay,” he says again.

Ed is stiff against him at first, but gradually relaxes into his hold. Spike squeezes their shoulder gently.

They sit there like that in silence for a long time before they hear footsteps outside their room. The door is thrown open to reveal Doffy Flamingo himself, garish pink feather jacket around his shoulders and sickening grin in place. Two others—Spike recognizes them as two of Donquixote’s best members, Vergo and Diamante—also enter the room with him, chains and whips in their hands.

Spike shudders at the sight of them. Nothing good can come from this.

He’s right when Doffy snaps his fingers and Vergo lurches forward to wrench Ed from Spike’s grasp.

“Spike!” Ed cries, kicking out with their long legs and catching Vergo in the chin, snapping his head up.

He doesn’t release Ed though, just tightens his grip on their arms. Spike tries to lurch forward onto his feet, but as soon as he does, he’s overcome by a wave of dizziness.

When the dizziness passes, Spike looks up to find that Vergo has chained and collared Ed and is presenting them to Doffy.

“You’re pretty cute,” Doffy says, grasping Ed’s chin and turning it side to side to inspect their face. “But I can’t tell if you’re a boy or a girl.”

“Go to hell!” Ed snarls.

Doffy chuckles and says, “Why don’t we find out?”

Spike’s eyes widen at the implication and he ignores the sudden wave of dizziness as he lurches onto his feet and kicks out at Doffy. The man easily dodges Spike’s sloppy kick and, with another snap of his fingers, Spike is thrown to the floor by Diamante.

“No! Spike! Don’t hurt him!” Edward is screaming frantically.

Diamante just laughs cruelly and kicks Spike in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. The kick is followed by another one, and another, and they keep coming until it’s all Spike can do to curl up in a tight little ball and endure it.

By the time the blows stop coming, Doffy and Vergo have left the room with Ed.

Spike’s exhausted, bruised, and beaten with bullet holes in his chest, but knowing what awaits Ed gives him the strength to fight back. Without thinking about it too much; without hesitating, Spike breaks his thumb to yank his left hand out of the cuffs. He lurches up right, rolling to avoid Diamante’s kick and punches the man in the face.

Diamante stumbles, but doesn’t go down so, without stopping and letting the lightheadedness catch up with him, Spike spins into a series fluid kicks and punches, dodging Diamante’s attacks and directing the flow of power back at him. Spike ducks a punch from Diamante, ramming his shoulder into the taller man’s stomach and flipping him over his back.

Diamante lands on his back with a groan and Spike bolts for the door.

 _I need to find a gun_. Spike thinks as he sprints down the corridor.

Lucky for him, the first person he comes across is a blonde kid carrying a machine gun he clearly doesn’t know how to use. Unluckily for him, the boy apparently knows karate because he drops the machine gun the minute he sees Spike and moves to punch him in the gut.

Spike barely dodges the attack, spinning past him and hitting the kid at the back of the skull with his elbow, aiming to knock him out. Unfortunately, the kid apparently has a thick skull because he just stumbles forward before spinning around and snarling at Spike.

Spike grabs the discarded machine gun and points it at the blonde boy. The boy’s eyes widen almost comically and he slowly raises his hands in surrender.

“Where did Doffy take my partner?” Spike growls, his arms trembling with the effort to hold up the gun.

The boy’s eyes flicker down to Spike’s hands before he grins widely. Almost faster than Spike’s eyes can follow, the boy _moves_. Spike pulls the trigger almost reflexively and watches as the boy suddenly stops moving as one of the bullets catches him in the chest.

The boy collapses on the floor, blood pooling quickly around his body. Spike turns and continues to make his way down the hallway, now armed with a gun.

At the next intersection, he hears Ed’s voice, faint and echoing in the empty halls, but still clear. They’re screaming, and Spike thinks he hears his name among their senseless screams.

Spike bolts down the hallway Ed’s voice is coming down, but he doesn’t get far before coming across another two of Donquixote’s members. Spike doesn’t hesitate to shoot this time, killing one and wounding the other.

Training his gun on the wounded man, Spike says, “Where did Doffy take my partner?”

The other man just laughs, blood bubbling out of his mouth as he does so. Spike ignores him when he hears a fresh wave of Ed’s screams, closer than before.

He takes off again.

This time, he isn’t interrupted on his sprint in the direction of Ed’s voice. He doesn’t come across any enemies even though he can hear them moving in the halls behind him and in front of him. He finds this suspicious, but doesn’t give it much thought. Ed is his priority right now.

Spike knows he’s in the right place when he skids around a corner and sees Vergo standing outside a room at the end of the corridor.

He doesn’t hesitate to open fire on the other man, sprinting towards him even as he shoots the gun. Most of his bullets go wide, but two catch his enemy—one in the gut and the other through the shoulder—and Vergo goes down.

Spike skids to a halt outside the room and kicks the door open.

What he sees inside makes his vision go red.

Ed is laying on their back on the floor in the middle of the room. Their hands are chained to the floor above their head and their feet are also tied down to keep them from kicking. Doffy is between their spread legs, his pants pulled halfway down. Ed’s face is screwed up in pain and there are tears streaming down their face. The screams are almost deafening now.

Spike doesn’t hesitate. He pulls the trigger and pumps Doffy full of lead, careful to hold the gun steady so none of the bullets go stray and hit Ed. Spike’s standing right behind him, so the bullets go straight through Doffy’s chest and into the wall across from him.

The man falls forward on top of Ed, cutting them off mid scream as all their air is forced out of them in a _whoosh_. Spike shoves him to the side and quickly unbinds Ed’s legs. As soon as their legs are free, Ed kicks out, flailing wildly.

“Ed!” Spike calls to them. “Ed, it’s just me.”

But Ed doesn’t appear to be listening to him. They’ve started screaming again; screaming for Spike to save them. It’s like they don’t even realize he’s in the room with them.

So, Spike just dodges the flailing limbs and searches Doffy for the keys to Ed’s chains. He finds them in the pocket of that hideous pink feather coat and quickly unlocks the cuffs binding Ed’s wrists.

Ed immediately scrambles backwards into the corner, screaming, “DON’T TOUCH ME!”

And Spike’s heart breaks, because this is not the same Edward he’s known and watched grow for over four years. This Edward is broken, and he’s definitely not the person to put them back together again.

Spike glances around the room, looking for something to cover Ed with, but their clothes are shredded beyond hope. Spike strips off his suit jacket, careful not to touch Ed as he drapes it over their shoulders. Edward blinks, seemingly coming back to themself for the moment and they look up at Spike with dull, lifeless eyes.

“Spike?” they whisper.

Spike nods silently, kneeling carefully in front of them—not to close in case Ed still doesn’t want to be touched, but close enough that they can reach out to him if they want to.

Fresh tears fill Ed’s eyes and they launch themself at Spike at the same time as they start bawling. Spike catches them easily enough, because Ed is worryingly thin, and holds on tight. Ed lets out a loud hiccupping sob that breaks Spike’s heart. Even when throwing tantrums when they were younger, Ed never cried like this.

A shadow falls over them as someone steps into the doorway. Spike spins around, clutching Ed tighter to his chest, fearing that some other Donquixote member has come to finish them off (and, really? Spike wouldn’t be able to do much to stop them at this point), but its Jet he sees in the doorway, staring at Ed with a horrified expression on his face.

“Jet,” Spike says, relief evident in his voice.

Jet’s eyes slide from Ed’s shaking form, wrapped in Spike’s jacket, to his face and he nods once.

“I cleared the building,” Jet says. “Most of the Donquixote members have either fled or are too wounded to cause us problems. We should get out of here before they bring reinforcements.”

Spike nods.

“Ed?” he says softly, brushing vibrant red hair away from their eyes. “We’ve gotta move. Can you stand?”

Ed shakes their head with a little whimper and buries their face further into Spike’s chest.

Spike sighs, but easily hooks his arms underneath Ed’s knees—wincing at the wetness between their thighs—and picks them up bridal style.

“Can you cover me?” Spike asks Jet and the older man nods.

They take the same path out of the building that Jet took in and only come across a few bodies and injured men. Spike bundles Ed into the back of Jets ship and sees them off before making his way down the street to where his own Swordfish is hidden.

It’s been an awful day and now Spike just wants to go home and sleep for a year.

~

“Spike?”

Spike rolls over in bed at the sound of his name and sees Ed standing in the door to his room.

“Ed, what’s wrong?”

“Ed had a nightmare,” Ed says softly.

This has been routine for the past week. Ed only slept through the first night after the Donquixote incident and they’ve been in Spike’s bed every night since.

Spike doesn’t even hesitate before pulling back the covers and welcoming the teen into his arms. Ed steps hesitantly into the room, letting the door close behind them. Spike can hear them shuffling across the floor and then he feels the bed dip as Ed crawls in, snuggling up to his chest and tucking their head under his chin.

“I keep thinking that I can still feel his hands on me,” Ed whispers in the dark, as Spike pulls the blankets over them.

Spike wraps his arms around their thin frame and squeezes.

“He’s dead,” Spike murmurs into Ed’s hair, breathing in the scent of their seafoam shampoo. “He can’t touch you anymore.”

Ed nods and releases a long sigh, shifting closer to Spike.

He listens as their breathing evens out in sleep, but he lies awake for a long time afterwards. Before dreamland takes him, Spike vows to never let anything hurt Edward again. Not for as long as he’s breathing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How did you like it? I have a sneaking suspicion that this is terrible, but I guess I'll leave you to be the judge of that XD I'm not sure I did Spike justice in this chapter though. Like. HOW TO SPIKE?! IDK?!
> 
> And some of you may have noticed (if you're also familiar with One Piece) that Doffy Flamingo is basically Doflamingo Donquixote from One Piece. That's because I'm really bad at making up my own villains so I modeled my villain for this story after the biggest anime asshole I could think of. It was a terrible idea. Poor Ed. Poor Spike. My poor babies. *cries*
> 
> Comments are the lifeblood of authors so if you liked this story PLEASE drop me a comment! Thanks for reading!


	2. Session 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed leaves the Bebop and Spike can't handle life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM A TRASH CAN. WHAT AM I DOING STILL WRITING THIS WHEN I HAVE HOMEWORK TO BE DOING AND TESTS TO BE STUDYING FOR?!?! DX
> 
> Anyways, have fun!

“I can’t stay here,” Ed says to him one night as they’re laying in bed, trying to get used to the other’s presence.

Spike knows they don’t mean his bed, his room, his space; they mean the entire Bebop.

He hugs them closer and they take a deep breath before continuing.

“Every time someone reaches for me, I can’t help thinking its him,” Ed says, and Spike doesn’t pretend to think they mean anyone other than Doffy. “Every time I see a man out of the corner of my eye, all I can see is that pink feather coat and that terrifying smile. And I’m so scared that every bounty we come across is going to do the same. That they’ll hurt you and—“ they take in a shuddering breath, “and hurt me too. And I… I can’t do it anymore. I’m _so_ scared. _All_ the time.”

Spike squeezes them gently.

“He’s dead,” he says. “He can’t hurt you anymore.”

“I _know_ ,” Ed whimpers burying their face in his chest. “But knowing that doesn’t stop me from being scared.”

“Yeah,” Spike replies, because he does know how that feels.

~

“Ed wants to leave,” Spike tells Jet the next morning.

Jet nods like he expected this and asks, “They know where they wanna go yet?”

Spike shrugs.

“I don’t think so,” he replies. “Somewhere without men, I guess.”

Jet scratches his head for a minute, thinking. Spike doesn’t expect him to come up with an answer. Neither of them really knows any women, aside from Faye.

“Ah!” Jet says suddenly, “I know just the place!”

“Where?” Spike asks, surprised.

“Remember that group Faye told us she joined? The Skaia Pirates?”

Spike smacks the side of his head with his hand. He can’t believe he didn’t think of that.

The Skaia Pirates are an all-female group of pirates that spend their days sailing through space, partying, and robbing assholes. They don’t have a bounty because they steal primarily from crime syndicates and gangs. From what Spike’s heard of them, they’re a generally pretty laid back group of women.

“That’s perfect,” he says with a grin.

~

The day when Ed will leave the ship comes quickly, with Ed seeming ecstatic at the prospect of new adventures.

Faye arrives fashionably late, as usual, and Ed squeals and runs to her, throwing their skinny arms around her.

“Are you ready to go?” Faye asks, acting annoyed, but looking like she secretly enjoys Ed’s enthusiasm. “The girls are excited to meet you.”

Ed bobs their head, excited.

“What are they like?” Ed asks, bouncing on the balls of their feet as Jet and Spike load their luggage onto the Red Tail.

Faye rolls her eyes and says, “You’ll meet them when you get there. Now come _on_.”

Ed turns and throws themself into Jet’s arms, giving him a giant bear hug. Jet hugs them back just as tightly and says, “I’ll miss you, little bird.”

Spike doesn’t want Ed to leave, he realizes with sudden clarity.

“Don’t go,” he says softly, barely aware that he even spoke the words.

Ed turns to him with tears in their eyes and throws their arms around him.

“I’ll be back,” they say. “I promise.”

Then, quick and light as a feather, they lean up to kiss him on the cheek before turning and climbing into Faye’s Red Tail.

~

Almost an entire year later, as Ed is looking at the one picture she has of the entire Bebop crew and missing Spike terribly, Zenechka pulls up a chair and plops down next to Ed.

“Whatcha got there?” Zenechka asks, leaning her arm on the edge of the chair and propping her chin up.

“It’s just a picture of the old Bebop crew,” Ed replies, tracing Spike’s fluffy hair with their fingers.

“Ohhh?” Zenechka leans forward to see. “I recognize Faye of course, and that’s Jet, and that dog must be Ein, that you’ve told us all about, but who’s the other guy and why haven’t I heard about him before now??”

Ed swallows hard to force down the lump in their throat.

“That’s Spike,” they say. “And… you haven’t heard of him before now because it hurts thinking about him.”

“Then why are you thinking about him now if it hurts so much?” Zenechka asks gently, as Ed’s fingers trace the familiar path of Spike’s body.

“Because it hurts not thinking about him too.”

Zenechka gives Ed a sad little smile and says, “Tell me about him.”

So, Ed does.

“He’s strong and kind and he’s got a terrible trigger finger,” They say with a wistful smile. “He always finishes what he starts, but that’s mostly because he’s stubborn to a fault and has a vindictive streak. He uses my preferred pronouns and he doesn’t treat me like a kid, but he protects me and I always know I can count on him to have my back.”

“Ed, I think you’ve got a case of lovesickness,” Zenechka says seriously.

Ed blinks.

“What?”

“Lovesickness,” Zenechka replies with a knowing smile. “Ed, I think you’re in love with this Spike person.”

“In love… with Spike?” Ed asks, thinking about the words as they pass through their lips. “I’m… in love with Spike…”

Zenechka nods and smiles.

“And… you don’t think he’s… too old for me?” Ed asks hesitantly, because most of the relationships they’ve read about on the web were between people of the same age group.

Zenechka snorts and says, “Oh, honey. When loves involved, there ain’t no such thing as too young or too old. Of course, if you’re dating somebody who’s fifty years older than you, I’m gonna judge you, certainly. And I don’t care how old you are but if your over eighteen and dating someone more than four years younger than you who’s under eighteen, then you’re a pedophile and most people don’t like that. But, in you and Spike’s case, both of you are over eighteen and the age difference is only fourteen years. And, when you think about it, how long are you gonna live anyways, when you’re bounty hunters? There’s no time to be second guessing yourself. If something makes you happy, go for it.”

Ed looks back down at the picture, thinking it over. Being with Spike makes them happy, that much is obvious, but is a relationship what they really want from him? Ed thinks about what people in a relationship do. Do they want to kiss Spike? Hold hands with him? Go on dates with him? Ed’s heart skips a beat and the answer is ‘yes’.

~

The door to the bar swings open with a _jingle_ and Spike looks up just in time to see seven _stunning_ women walk in. The first is a petite little thing with long, flowing hair the color of snow and eyes the color of freshly spilled blood. The second is the first’s polar opposite, standing at six-four and sporting a sort of punk rock hairdo with a purple streak among the black. The third is another tiny thing with dark hair and eyes and a somber expression to contrast her companion’s smiles. The fourth is almost blinding to the eyes with riotous pink hair and eyes like sea coral. The fifth is almost dull in comparison, her curly hair a normal shade of brown and her eyes dark blue. Spike’s eyes get caught on the sixth girl, who has hair like fire and eyes like molten gold. She’s tall and thin with an adorable heart shaped face and legs a mile long. Her smile reminds him of Ed and his heart aches. And then his eyes finally slide to the seventh woman and… its Faye. Faye with her dark violet hair and sharp eyes. Spike’s eyes slide to the girl with fiery hair and he thinks _it can’t be_.

But then she looks at him and her eyes widen in recognition and he _knows_. She doesn’t just remind him of Ed, she _is_ Ed.

“ _Spike!_ ” they shout, sprinting across the room to throw themself into his arms, laughing the whole way.

And Spike catches them, wondering when was the last time he saw Ed so happy?

As Ed collides with his chest, Spike can’t resist spinning them around like he used to when they were younger. Ed giggles wildly and clings on tighter.

The door _jingles_ again, but Spike can’t look away from the blindingly bright person in his arms. The last time he saw Ed, their eyes were dull and lifeless and nothing he said could bring the spark back to them. Now they are laughing and smiling like they used to and their eyes are bright as the sun.

And then Spike looks up and all five of the other unfamiliar girls—they must be Jet’s pirate friends—are looking at him and Ed, each wearing a fond smile. He catches the albino girl’s red eye and her smile quirks up. She must be Zenechka, the leader.

“So _you’re_ the famous Spike Spiegel our Edward is so enamored with,” she says with a smirk. “Ed’s told us quite a lot about you.”

Spike looks down at Ed, whose face is flushed red, and says, “Have they, now? All good things, I hope?”

Zenechka shrugs.

“They said you’re a lazy asshole.”

Spike laughs and says, “Ain’t that the truth!”

“They _also_ said that you have a vindictive streak, but that you always finish what you started,” Zenechka continues. “And, most important of all, they told us that you care.”

Spike blinks and looks down at Edward again, whose eyes are half-lidded and has a content little smile on their face. They aren’t tuned into the conversation at all. Spike thinks they might be listening to his heartbeat.

Spike thinks about what Zenechka said. He’s never really thought about it before, but he supposes it’s what always made him a little different from the others in the Red Dragon syndicate. And then Spike thinks about Ed and its undeniable that he cares about them, perhaps more than he ever meant to. They went from being a bratty child that he was reluctantly fond of, to a strong-willed teen he would happily throw his life away for. And now they’re a beautiful young adult and Spike regrets he wasn’t there to see them grow up.

Spike looks up and Zenechka is still watching him with hawk eyes. She smiles at him and Spike wonders if he imagined the glare.

“At any rate, it’s obvious you care about Ed, and that’s good enough for me,” Zenechka says. “Just know this; if you hurt them, I will personally hunt you down and rip out your innards.”

She says this all with a pleasant smile and a light tone and, somehow, it makes her threat even more frightening.

Spike imagines he must have a funny expression on his face, because Zenechka laughs and pats his shoulder, saying, “Don’t worry about it too much. Just take care of them and we’ll all get along like peas in a pod.”

Then, she walks away.

Spike’s eyes follow her back to her friends before landing on Ed again. Ed’s eyes are alert again and looking at him.

“Zena said she was gonna give you the shovel talk,” Ed says with a sly smile.

“Why don’t we call it what it really is,” Spike says, “that was a threat.”

Ed giggles and buries their face in the crook of Spike’s neck, breathing out a heavy sigh. Spike takes the moment to really study them. They’ve changed a lot since he last saw them. Ed left an adolescent teenager and is now a fully grown adult. Their hair is longer, cascading down their back in waves of red. They traded away the spandex shorts and torn t-shirt for jeans and a golden, sparkly tank top.

“So, what are you doing here?” Spike asks.

Ed pulls away, straightening up to look him in the eye and Spike realizes they’re almost as tall as him now.

“We stopped in town for supplies,” Ed says. “The girls decided we should all get a drink before taking off again so we stopped by here. What about you?”

“I was in the area and needed a drink,” Spike says simply.

“Hey, Ed!” Faye says and they both turn to see her walking towards them. “We’ve all had our drinks so we’re gonna head out. Meet us back at the ship in twenty minutes if you still wanna be part of the party.”

“I’ll think about it,” Ed says with a crooked smile.

Faye shrugs and turns to saunter out of the bar.

“You’re leaving?” Spike says, and _damn_ he sounds so needy.

Ed looks at him with narrow eyes, deep in thought.

“Do you want me to stay?” they ask softly.

“I don’t want you to go,” Spike answers.

Ed gives him a sad little smile and says, “That’s not the same as wanting me to stay.”

Spike hesitates this time before saying, “I want you to stay,” and he means it. While Ed was gone, the ship seemed so empty. Spike and Jet still went after bounties, but it wasn’t the same without their little tech wizard. And Spike… Spike found himself slipping back into the man he used to be before the Bebop crew changed his life.

He blinks and Ed’s still there, their smile blindingly bright again.

“Then I’ll stay,” Ed says, and that’s that.

They take his hand in their slender one and pull him out of the bar, away from his misery.

“Let’s go home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally have everything planned out for this story and I just gotta say, the next chapter is gonna be a real tear jerker XD 
> 
> I'll hopefully have the next chapter done soon, but its me so don't get your hopes up XD
> 
> With that being said, comments are the lifeblood of authors so if you liked this, PLEASE drop me a comment! Thanks for reading!


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